A Cat Amongst Men - Prologue
by SoulSurvivor
Summary: What if Genma had gotten the Cat-Fist right? Or close anyway....


A Cat Amongst Men  
A Ranma 1/2 Alternaverse Fanfiction  
by Soul Survivor  
  
C&C is Most Welcome  
  
  
Disclaimer: Aside from Rumiko Takahashi, the list of people who have the rights to Ranma 1/2 escapes me at the moment. However, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it most definately does NOT include me.  
  
A secluded clearing:  
  
Things were most definately not going as planned.  
  
The manual clearly stated that the cat fist was supposed to give his son incredible strength and agility, yet all it had actually done, was terrify him. This was distressing to say the least. How was the boy supposed to become a 'Man Amongst Men' if he was afraid of a simple housecat? To make matters worse, the boy had thrown a fit when he had tried throwing him back in the pit. Didnt the boy know that he had to face his fears?  
  
'Face his fears... Face his fears to be a man... Now there's an idea!'  
  
Pulling the boy to his feet, Genma put on his best 'Wise Sensei' face.  
  
"Ranma... Ranma, look at me."  
  
Still sniffling, and trembling in fear of the sounds emanating from the nearby pit, Ranma faced his father.  
  
"Ranma, you dont have to go back in the pit again..."  
  
The tension seemed to drain out of the ten year old's body at those words, as his mind flooded with relief at the end of this nightmare. The words that followed however, were a dirrect affront to his pride.  
  
"It's my fault I suppose... I had hoped that you were ready for your 'Test of Manhood'." He let his face betray a hint of dissapointment, "I should have known you were much to _young_, and I had so hoped to make you a 'Man Amongst Men' for your mother. Ahh well, I suppose she'll be upset, but I'm sure that in a few years you'll be able to try again..."  
  
Ranma looked up at his father, conflicting emotions, plain on his face.  
  
"Why's momma gonna be upset, Poppa? Did I do sumthin wrong? Is it bad for me to be afraid of the... The... C C Caa Caats?" Were it not for his fathers constant admonitions against it, the thought of making his mother upset would have had him in tears by that point.  
  
A small part of Genma's brain, that dessicated part called his concience briefly tried making itself known, and was sumarilly crushed under the weight of enlightened self interest. Plan fully in mind, Genma continued.  
  
"No son, its alright for a _boy_ like you to be afraid of cats, however, 'Real Men' should face their fears, and it's the place of a 'Man Amongst Men' to conquer them." He paused to look sadly at his son, "You, I'm afraid, are to young, maybe in a few years..."  
  
Turning, he walked a few steps in the direction of their campsite when he saw that Ranma was not with him. Looking back, he saw the boy standing at the edge of the pit, a string of fish sausages wrapped around his waist, shaking like a leaf. After gathering his courage for a moment, he threw himself bodily to the cats, screaming at the top of his lungs.  
  
========================================  
  
It had been 2 weeks since he had convinced Ranma to continue the cat-fist training and Genma was beginning to worry. Ranma had thrown himself into his training, both figuratively and literally.  
While he was obviously terrified of the pit and the cats within, he refused to give up, wrapping himself in fish and going to the cats, every morning at dawn, without fail.  
  
When Genma had tried talking him into taking a break, if for nothing else than to give the layered scratches that covered his body a chance to heal, the boy had gone berserk, ranting about his manhood and not disappointing his mother... It was decided to drop the subject there.  
  
Genma watched from his place by the fire as the boy began his morning ritual. First he would do his calisthenics then he would practice his kata for an hour or so. After morning practice, he would strip down and don a pair of ragged briefs he used solely for this purpose. He would then cover every inch of his flesh with fish paste, wrap fish sausage around his torso. Then takeing fishcakes in his hands he would force himself to walk the 30 yard from their campsite to the pit. The expression on his face had been utter terror the fist few times, but as of late, it had been changeing, going from fear to anger. This time, the difference was even more pronounced, as he traveled the last 20 feet at a sprint and leapt head first into the pit with a scream that was half terror and half feral challenge.  
  
For over an hour, the sounds of feline mayhem came from the pit, yowls and hisses counterpointed by the occasional human scream, then something changed. Better said, something roared, a beastial yell no cat could acomplish, yet no human should've ever tried. Genma barely managed a couple of steps back when the cover of the pit exploded outward and a red and black blur came flying out, followed by dozens of half starved cats.  
  
The blur whipped by him, almost faster than his eyes could follow, seeming only to touch a nearby tree, as it fell over, cut cleanly about four feet off the ground. As the blur sped in his direction, a part of Genma's mind idly noted that the trunk was roughly ten inches thick. The rest of him was to worried about the expected pain to really care about trivialities like that. The pain never came however, as the blur lept, bounced off of his head and landed, perched on the newly created stump.  
  
Ranma looked at his father, almost bursing with pride. His father had been right the first time, he _was_ a man. He had proven himself, he had gone through his rite of passage and faced his fears, thus proving his manhood. Unconciosly crouched on all fours while munching on a piece of raw fish sausage, he looked at his father.  
  
"I did it father. I faced my fears and beat'em just like a man should. Right?"  
  
Genma looked at his blood covered son, crouched catlike on the stump he had created and shivered inwardly. He considered his words as he watched the boy idly lick his hands clean, seemingly uncaring of the fact that they were covered in blood. Deciding that disembowelment was not on his agenda for the day, he swallowed his doubts and put on his "You've done well" smile.  
  
"Yes Ranma, you have."  
  
"So, mother will be proud? Im a 'Man 'mongst Men' now, right? Right?!"  
  
Seeing the slightly wild look to the boy's eyes, and the unconcious flexing of his fingers, Genma hastily agreed.  
  
===================================  
  
Six Years Later.  
  
The buxom young redhead that approached the Tendo household had a slightly exasperated look on her face as she addressed the umbrella carrying, poncho wrapped figure behind her.  
  
"Look dad, it dont matter what I look like when I meet 'em, alright! Its just a stupid curse, something a quick bath will fix. On the other hand, the longer we stay out here, the more chances _you_ have of getting wet, and the last thing I need, is another witch-hunt. Or have you forgotten what happened in Osaka?"  
  
The poncho shrouded figure simply muttered unintelligably and followed his son/daughter to the door.  
  
Ranma was not amused. No sooner had he introduced himself, the a man who he presumed to be Mr. Tendo had tackled him in a bear hug, and shortly thereafter had keeled over. Then one of the girls, a cute one with short hair, had come over and poked him in the chest, calling him a girl of all things. It had taken all of his considerable will-power to not lay her out on the spot, even though the mistake was understandable.  
  
The Tendo household was stunned as they watched the girl, who had introduced herself as Ranma, seem to blur as she escaped Nabiki's poking and ducked into the kitchen returning just as quickly with the kettle Kasumi had been heating for tea.  
  
"Look, I'm only gonna say this once, I'm a man. This body you see is from a curse I got in China, and while I dont like it, there aint nothin I can do about it." Noting that Mr. Tendo had recovered from his faint, he continued, "Now, watch closely."  
  
With that, he poured the contents of the kettle on his head, recovering his true form. Needless to say, Mr. Tendo promply fainted again, shortly followed by his daughters.  
  
Ranma looked at the dormant quartet for a moment, then hopped onto the back of the couch and got comfortable while he waited for them to recover. Idly grooming his hair, he glanced sidelong at his father.  
  
"Well, they took it better than I expected."  
  
Genma looked down at his friend, sprawled out along with his family, and nodded.  
  
"That they did son, that they did"  
  
Tbc  
=====================================================  
  
If you have actually read this far, Im sure you are wondering what is going on.. well, for now at least that... is a secret.  
  
This is just an idea that hit me while I was working on Nezumi.  
  
Changes so far:  
  
The most obvious, Ranma has control over the neko-ken... sorta  
  
The nekoken, instead of being the tramatic experience that destroyed his trust in his father, is now a memory of his greatest triumph. Thus instead of driving them apart and leaving him bitter, it became a bonding experience, as noted by the lack of "Old Man, or Pops". In his own mind, from that point forward, he was a 'Man Amongst Men', and nothing, not even the curse will change that self image.   
  
Having mastered the Nekoken, and with it, his fear of cats things seem bright on the horizon... But hey, whats this? Why is he chasing that ball of yarn?  
  
C&C is Very Welcome!!  
  
simkin4@hotmail.com  
darquechilde@earthlink.net 


End file.
